2010 Mazdaspeed 3

Second place: Hool-Agains.

The New Testament (Matthew 18:9) suggests “if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out.” That seems pretty severe, but we did find ourselves wishing we didn’t have to look at the Speed 3’s new interior cloth, with its spatter of red dots on charcoal fabric (door panels, seat inserts). It’s Mazdaspeed fabric trim, but to us it’s amusement-park adolescent.

Similarly, the Speed 3’s exterior styling seems intended to stimulate the salivary glands of the fast and the furious. Uninhibited seems a safe word for the updated look, inspired by Mazda’s other-worldly nagare concept cars, particularly the front-end sculpting. That black plastic grille is hard to love, but the wider fender flares add a sense of menace, and the new hood scoop is actually functional, feeding air to the top-mounted intercooler directly beneath. Whether thine eye is pleased or offended, the Speed 3 has undeniable swagger.

You could argue that adolescent sums up the whole concept of this car, but so what? The Mazdaspeed 3 feeds the inner juvenile as few others in this class, an incorrigible street fighter that’s always ready to mix it up. If you believe it’s important to sustain a little immaturity, this car will provide your minimum daily requirement and then some.

Having said all that, we must report that the updated Speed 3 has had its renegade mojo mitigated a bit. There’s a little more mass: At 3260 pounds, our test car was 90 pounds heavier than its predecessor. Increased weight, plus revised torque management (to diminish torque steer), dilutes the Mazda in formal sprints. In its last outing, the Speed 3 dashed to 60 mph in 5.5 seconds and through the quarter-mile in 14 flat at 103 mph. The new one hits those same marks in 5.8 seconds and 14.3 at 100 mph, though top speed—a heady 151 mph—is about the same.

To our surprise, the revised suspension yields an improved ride (though not as pleasant as the GTI’s) and quicker responses. That update, plus more aggressive and slightly wider Dunlop SP Sport 2050 rubber, elevates skidpad performance (0.92 g versus 0.89 in January) and lane-change speed: 67.1 mph versus 64.7. Those would have been best in test in our previous comparo. The Speed 3 was also tops in braking—161 feet from 70 mph—but by only one foot.

Though it’s lost a half-step, the Speed 3 still smokes the GTI in sprints. So how does this street tiger finish second to a slower car? It’s a matter of manners. Consider torque steer, for example. You aim the car toward Toledo, tramp on the gas, and find yourself heading for Kalamazoo. Mazda may have mitigated this in the new Speed 3, but if so, the distinction is subtle.

And what’s up with these new front seats? Lateral support has diminished, and the seat cushion feels hard as the miles mount. Small things: Clutch engagement is abrupt compared with the GTI’s, shift quality isn’t quite as precise, and the new steering rack substitutes effort for feel. The tiny nav screen (4.1 inches)—part of the $1895 optional Tech package—made us think about updating our optical prescriptions, and of course the Speed 3 is a little thirstier than its German rival: It takes more oats to feed them extra ponies.

By the end of our test, it was clear the GTI was ascendant in all-around livability. But if smoky-burnout hooliganism is the priority, the Speed 3 is still the champ.